2016 Reviewed - Duathlon Champs & National Series

Duathlon Season - Look Back

The 2016 duathlon season was already completed before April had even passed this year and examining the results from both the Duathlon National Series and the Duathlon National Champs, it was possible to tell at that stage which athletes were going to be on form for the rest of the year.

This year's Duathlon National Series was made up of eight rounds, with scoring based off each athlete's best two results, plus their scores from the National Duathlon Championships, where bonus points were on offer.

Calm Conditions

Despite perceptions of winter racing, conditions were actually calm and dry for almost all the races in the Duathlon National Series this year with the one exception being the National Championships on the race track at Mondello Park, where the weather meant the eventual winners had to overcome rain and hailstones, as well as their competitors to take their titles.

The podiums from Mondello - where for the first time a national duathlon champs was run as a draft legal race - were a good reflection of form with the men's and women's overall winners Bryan McCrystal and Heather Foley both going on to have dominant seasons in triathlon. Second placed in the men's champs, Cian O'Reilly went on to win the duathlon national series while Lorraine Carey took second in both the duathlon champs and the duathlon national series.

We would also be seeing a lot more of Carolyn Hayes and Kieran Jackson, who occupied the third step of the podium at the national champs, as both athletes went on to be two of the strongest competitors in the Super Series later in the summer.

Duathlon National Championships - Men's Podium

1

Bryan

McCrystal

2

Cian

O'Reilly

3

Kieran

Jackson

Duathlon National Championships - Women's Podium

1

Heather

Foley

2

Lorraine

Carey

3

Carolyn

Hayes

Duathlon National Series - Men's Overall Podium

1

Cian

O'Reilly

2

Chris

Mintern

3

Gavin

Corey

Duathlon National Series - Women's Overall Podium

1

Heather

Foley

2

Lorraine

Carey

3

Bronagh

Adams

Duathlon Champs and National Series Awards

All category winners in the Duathlon National Champs and National Series will receive their medals at the Triathlon Ireland Awards night in Dublin's Marker Hotel on November 26th. Tickets for the night have been selling strongly and the event is expected to sell out so don't delay in purchasing yours.